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Saturday, August 24, 2013

Great Rookie Cards (Part 3)

#19
1984 Topps Dan Marino

Dan Marino is one of the greatest quarterbacks in
NFL history, some might even say the greatest of all-time. Marino was known for
his precision on offense and lightning quick release. His tools at the
quarterback position allowed him to lead the league in passing 5 times while
throwing for 420 career touchdowns which currently puts him 3rd all-time among
quarterbacks.

#18
1954 Topps Hank Aaron

Still regarded as "The Homerun King" to
many baseball fans Hank Aaron had a knack for putting the ball over the fence.
He hit 755 homeruns which places him just 2nd all-time behind only Barry Bonds
(Who took steroids). His homeruns where never these long majestic bombs we see
guys like Chris Davis or Miguel Cabrera hit but they got the job done.

#17 1966 Philadelphia Dick Butkus

8 times a pro bowler and regarded as one of the
greatest line backers to ever play the game Dick Butkus left his mark all over
the game of football. Before there was Brian Urlacher or Ray Lewis the NFL had
Dick Butkus and he was mean. In 1979 the long time Chicago Bears standout was
inducted into the football hall of fame in Canton,Ohio.

#16
1998 Upperdeck Authentic Peyton Manning

Peyton Manning is an incredible leader of men on the
field, an extension of the head coach on the field if you will. In terms of
pure talent and knowing X's and O's i'm not sure you can do much better than
Peyton Manning. He has had some tremendous season in the past but the group of receivers
he has in Denver this season may be the best he has ever had.

#15
1955 Topps Harmon Killibrew

573 Homeruns is what Harmon Killibrew collected
while playing in the major leagues. During
his tenure he led the league 6 times in Homeruns. Whether with the Twins or
Senators he was always and a productive, powerful guy. Killibrew was elected to
the hall of fame in 1984.

#14
1989 Upperdeck Ken Griffey Jr.

I don't like to compare players from different eras
but in the 1990's Ken Griffey jr was a modern day, left handed version of
Willie Mays. More importantly he did things the right way in an era where so
many players earned an asterisk next to your name. Griffey was a true 5 tool
player and that's very rare in baseball.

#13
1972 Topps Julius Erving

before he captured the imagination of basketball
fans in New York and Philadelphia Julius Erving played his rookie season in the
ABA for the Virginia Squires. He was Jordan before Jordan taking the high flying
above the rim style and bringing it to the forefront of mainstream. He also
made the dunk contest popular with his very basic but very hard free throw line
dunk. DR.J was the kind of guy you wanted to be the pioneer of a sport trying
to grow.

#12
2000 Topps Miguel Cabrera

Miguel Cabrera by the age of 15 was playing pro
baseball and was signed by the Florida Marlins. Fast forward a decade and some
change later and he is undeniably the best player in baseball and has collected
a World Series ring, MVP and a triple crown. At the rate he is going he may be
the best hitter of this generation.

#11
1961 Fleer Wilt Chamberlain

Wilt Chamberlain was the most physically imposing
player of his time. Looking at the back of his basketball card at his stats
would make you question if he was even real in the first place. As we all know
he still holds the single game record for points in a game with 100.

Hope you enjoyed part 3 of this series stay tuned
for the top 10 great rookie cards in sports history coming up in the next few
days. Thank you for reading and follow us on Twitter @TruSchoolSports and
@ThatBoyBtaylor.